Minor glitches on final testing

CEBU, Philippines - Apart from minor glitches, officials of Commission on Election-7 were pleased with the outcome of the final testing and sealing (FTS) yesterday of the Precinct Count Optical Scan machines in the region.

Four machines malfunctioned  in San Fernando town and Bantayan Island while one each in Compostela town and Bogo City conked out.

But Aba said the Comelec was able to send contingency PCOS machines to these areas.

In some cities and towns, the FTS procedures were delayed.

At the Abellana National High School, for example, delivery of PCOS machines was delayed, causing frustration among some Board of Election Inspectors.

Instead of 8 a.m., the PCOS machines arrived past 11 a.m., which caused the BEIs to start the FTS after lunch.

Despite the delay, most BEIs in the 19 polling precincts for Barangay Sambag I and Sambag II did not encounter problems with their PCOS machines.

Remedios Bacus, a cluster chairman, said this coming election will be easier for them compared to the first automated polls in 2010.

Bacus said operating the PCOS machine is as easy as using a cellular phone, stressing that those who had a hard time operating the machines plainly did not follow instructions.

“Simple lang gyud kaayo siya (PCOS). Magkaproblema ug wa kahibalo sa iyang gibuhat,” said Bacus.

The FREEMAN joined yesterday’s mock election, purposely shading more than the allowed votes for the Senate race.

Instead of just 12, The Freeman voted for 13 candidates. The Comelec earlier reminded voters that it would be okay to under-vote but not to over-vote since the PCOS would not read the ballot.

But when The FREEMAN fed the ballot into the PCOS machine, it accepted the ballot.

Atty. Ferdinand Gujilde, Comelec election officer for Cebu City’s south district, explained although the PCOS machine accepts the ballot, it will consider the votes for that particular category as void.

He clarified that the other categories where the voter voted correctly will count.

Gujilde said that it would be verified through manual counting where teachers would compare the result in the election returns with the ballots.

Bacus believed that there is a remote possibility that the PCOS machines would be tampered.

In Talisay City, FTS at the People’s Hall went smoothly except for minor glitches in some precincts.

At least five of the 128 PCOS machines malfunctioned in Barangays Candulawan, Linao and Poblacion. Two machines in Tabunok conked out.

In Mandaue City, the installation of the PCOS machines took longer than expected during its simultaneous testing.

Faye Luarez, PCOS technician supervisor in Mandaue, said that most of the minor problems encountered involved the improper installation of the machine.

Luarez said her office did not receive reports of any power interruptions nor errors due to failure of the BEIs to follow instructions in handling the machine.

In Cebu City, a total of 592 units of PCOS machines were brought to  different voting centers.

Gujilde said the employees of the Comelec and City Treasurer’s Office were escorted by the police during the delivery of the machines.

The PCOS machines were turned over to the BEIs who conducted the testing and sealing.

The final testing and sealing were undertaken to iron out glitches before the elections on Monday.

Gujilde, however, said during the final testing yesterday, they were able to anticipate the common problems.

In Barangay Guadalupe, two machines were found defective, but contingency machines were sent immediately.

During the election, technicians will be assigned to clustered precincts to respond to possible problems.– With Raffy Cabristante, Silliman University intern, and John Stephen Anuada, CNU intern -/LPM (FREEMAN)